The Path We Take
by MRiguy
Summary: The path we take writes the future we will live in. Follow Naruto and the Path he will take to achieve the goals laid in front of him. Strong Naruto, pairing is undecided sooo poll's will be used! It may get dark, depends on the path i take... Budum tsss! Enjoy!
1. Introduction

**This is… I don't know what this is ahaha! It has been bugging me, spent 30 minutes in the shower because my mind was so engrossed of the idea. Now i've finally got the motivation to write again. Now peeps, don't be nice to me, criticism is an author's best christmas/birthday/valentines/everyday day gift xD! Take it as a prologue, to set the tone of the story.**

 **Enjoy! :)**

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It has been exactly a week since the horrifying event that took place in Konoha. A week since Hiruzen Sarutobi was reinstated as Sandaime Hokage due to Minato Namikaze's death. A week in which lives have been lost and new life had been created. The week that had change a baby's life… Forever.

Everyone is in red alert after the incident, how can they not? At this moment in time, Konoha itself have been left with only a few buildings standing. It would take months for the village to take business as normal. They are without a doubt, the weakest out of the four great villages, making them the number one target. Academy students to Jonin's, everyone was there to help, including the elite force of the Anbu. They however, were stationed within a hundred metre radius of Konoha's great wall. Kill on sight if any unknown shinobis is to enter their radius.

Foreseeing all said problems has been the Hokage, currently sitting on his chair in front of his desk in his office with towering paperworks in front of him. He was of age now, in his late fifties and should have been enjoying retirement. Instead, he was back at this cursed place. Shaking his head, he conceded back to his paperwork, wishing something or someone will provide him a reason to skip said task.

Kami answered through the cries of a little toddler which reverberated around the room. Set beside next to the Hokage was a cradle which seemed to be the source of the noise. Sarutobi smiled and cradled the baby to calm him down. A blonde haired boy, with three whisker like marks on each cheek. Oceanic blue eyes staring right back at Sarutobi.

"You look just like your father little one."

Sarutobi spoke, sadness apparent in his voice. A young such as this should be entitled to experience what a parent's love is. His train of thought was derailed due to a knock on the door.

"Come in!"

Four people entered his office, a tall and pale man in his late twenties wearing a white robe with rope like purple belt. He was accompanied by three kids, a purple pineapple haired girl, a long black haired Hyuga and a short haired brunette wearing glasses.

"Team Orochimaru reporting!"

Spoke the pale man, Orochimaru was a genius to say the least. Former Member of Team Hiruzen, later be known as the Densetsu no sannin. A name given to them by Hanzō for surviving against him. Hanzō of the Salamander, feared throughout the continent so much so that he has been given the "flee on sight" in the bingo books. The man breathes poison, literally.

"Orochimaru! I hope your genins are doing a fine job, we need every hand we have at our disposal with our current situation."

Orochimaru smiled, "Hokage-sama, you don't think my team would fail you, do you? You have trained me after all, if they did then would it reflect on your incompetence as a teacher as well?" You're an old man now sarutobi, you could have had chosen me as your successor and instead you chose that Minato kid.

In the background, the two men can hear the mutterings of the three kids. A female voice stood out from the rest.

"Kabuto! Don't you think the Hokage is too old

to have a baby? He must be ancient, i mean look at that white beard!"

Kabuto, the brown haired boy wearing glasses paled at her comment. "Anko! That's the leader of our village! Be respectful!"

The hokage shook his head in disbelief, honestly, kids these days have no respect. Ignoring the slight dig from his student and the little.

"He's not my baby, He is my grandson little anko." Anko was petrified to say the least, she did not dare face the Hokage. "Now, collect your rewards from my secretary as my old bones and white beard needs its rest."

Anko quickly shuffled out the room followed by her sensei and the rest of her team. Sarutobi stared longingly at his student, worry and sadness in his eyes. What has happened to you Orochimaru, what has happened to the three of you? Orochimaru was becoming more distant, Sarutobi sensed something was amiss. there was Tsunade who is in self imposed exile. Then there was Jiraiya, no one knew where he was or what he is doing after he had left the village due to Minato's death.

Sarutobi shook his head, removing the grey thoughts that clouded his mind. A sudden knock on the door deflated his attitude, -can't an old man gets his rest- he swivelled his chair to face the window behind him. The blue sky was nearing the end of its cycle and the last glimpse of sunlight seeped through the peaks of the mountains. "Come in!"

A man covered in bandages walked in and to that the Hokage's demeanor changed. it was Danzö, the man was a team mate of the Hokage in their genin years and now an advisor at his side. The ninja population knew who he was and he was despised for such horrible deeds. However, the Hokage respected him. If the world was black and white, Danzö was black and the Hokage was white. His reactions to dilemmas and the path he takes to solve it was very subjective and that is why he was hated.

However, for a light to exist a shadow must be present. Missions are easily filtered by konoha via two ways, the dirty job and the clean one. Konoha cannot get their hands dirty in fear of damaging its reputation and so they must attend to the mission without trace. This is where Danzö comes in, he and Sarutobi both agreed to the creation of ROOT. ROOT attends to the jobs that above surface Konoha cannot and therefore ROOT is the shadow of Konoha. Danzö is the leader of ROOT, he is held in high regard by his men. The same men do not obey the Hokage; the same men only answers to his beckoning call.

However, communications has been strained somewhat through the years. ROOT has started training kids from early age, earliest as 5. This troubled the Hokage but he couldn't do anything about it, he knows that ROOT is as valuable as the ninjas at his disposal.

"Danzö, what brings you to my humble abode?"

Sarutobi caught his glance towards the baby and his mind processed one thing. ROOT wants the baby, the same baby he is trying to protect.

Danzö smirked, "Can't a guy visit an old friend?"

Sarutobi's eyebrows furrowed, "I know what you came for Danzö! I can't let you have him, I respect his father's wishes, he will live a normal life!"

Danzö shook his head in disagreement, "We both know that baby will suffer and i've heard rumours that the "demon" baby ha-"

Sarutobi's fist collided with his desk, denting it in the process. The action created a loud cracking noise which in turn awoken the baby in his arms. The Hokage's eyes bore down on Danzö, he snapped his fingers and an Anbu appeared by his side.

"Hai!"

The anbu had short spiky brown hair and dog masked with a pair of pointy ears at the tip of the mask. He donned a distinctive white cloak and black trousers with bandages wrapped around his right leg. On his back was a sheathed katana, it's scabbard decorated with white bandages.

The Hokage looked at the baby in his arms and smiled. He handed the baby to the Anbu and stared at him, knowing full well he will get demoted and tortured if something happened to the kid.

"Take the baby to The headquarters and find a woman that will be able to breastfeed him. I'll call for you when I'm finished."

The Anbu understood and disappeared out of the office. His eyes lingered where the anbu once stood before he diverted his attention to Danzö.

"Danzö, tell me! Who told them about the sealing! No one but the Anbu and a select few in the jounin ranks knew about this! Pray tell, how did civilians and below jonins even had that information in which they orchestrated a plan to kill the baby! Tell me!" The Hokage was releasing deathly killing intent causing the other occupant of the room to struggle.

 **XXXXXXXXFLASHBACK(is a bitch)XXXXXXXX**

A group of civilians and ninjas gathered a few blocks away from the Hospital. A tall and bulky man stood out from the rest. He looked down on all of them as he addressed them all.

"The demon kid is in that hospital, second floor room number 37. He is not heavily guarded to not arouse any suspicions, so only two Anbu's are present. One by the door and one inside the room itself. We can take the Anbu by the door by using one of the hospital staff." The woman next to him beamed, she had the chance to finally avenge her friend who died in the field of battle with the Kyubi no kitsune. "She will report that a fight has broken down near the hospital, the fight will be staged by the window of room 37. Light jutsus, nothing alarming that will attract anymore reinforcements. He will then come down to stop the ruckus but he is heavily outnumbered, and to get the other Anbu's attention one of us will "accidentally" throw a kunai through room 37's windows and into its ceiling. He will most likely spot his fellow anbu and will help him!" All the men cheered, it was a plausible plan and they finally have the chance to kill the demon.

True to the words of their leader, the Anbu guarding the door came out and tried to stop the trouble that was brewing. "Stop this ruckus!'you're all a pain in the arse!"

The civilians, ninjas alike pounced on him and some even threw a punch. A chunin stood a few metres away from the fighting. A kunai in hand he aimed and threw it, shattering the window and imbedding itself against the wooden ceiling of room 37.

The Anbu inside heard glass shattering and saw the kunai imbedding itself near him. He dropped to the ground and in the process took the kunai. He looked down from the broken window and saw his fellow Anbu outnumbered by what seems to be like a royal rumble. He shook his head and sighed, as his feet left the edge of the window the door behind him crept open.

A man in a doctor's robe steadily pushed an equipment trolley in the room. Surveying the dark room and seeing it was clear he walked further, nearer to the hospital bed.

It was a makeshift cradle, the pillows were arranged to make a rectangular shape in the middle and between the pillows a blonde haired boy started bellowing, tears streak down his puffy cheeks. The man smiled as he picked up a surgical tool from the trolley and lifted himself onto the bed to have easier access to the child. "Now, should we make this quick? Or should we carve the word demon in your chest? I think I prefer the latter, don't you?" He grinned like a cheshire cat as he started carving the letters onto the baby's chest.

Outside on the rooftops, two Anbu's on patrol spotted the commotion. "Senpai, isn't that two of ours?" Spoke the smaller one out of the two who wore a crow's masked. He had short jet black hair and from his voice alone one could tell he was still of a young age. The older anbu swore under his breath, "Crow, go to second floor, room 37! You have permission to kill anyone who shouldn't be in there!" The leader of the two jumped down to help his comrades. Crow, leapt from building to building until he was parallel to room 37 and he saw what they had feared. Grabbing a kunai from his holster, he speedily released it with force, aimed at the head of the large figure in the room.

Inside room 37 the man laughed maniacally as he stared proudly at his artwork. The baby cried and cried as blood trickled down his body from his wounds causing his ripped clothing to be drenched in blood. Raising the surgical tool above his head, the man muttered what would be his last words, "goodbye demo-." A kunai embedded itself in the centre of his forehead, causing him to stumble to the floor, lifeless. His surgical tool clattering beside him. Not a second later, the man known as crow appeared by the window ledge. Scouring the scene, the Anbu spotted the blooded surgical tool, immediately realised what has happened. Jumping down beside the baby's bed. He picked him up, blood covered his hands as he cradled the baby against his chest. Without a second wasted he disappeared, reappearing in a room full of masked ninjas. Everyone stared as he shouted for a medic. "Medic! Code red, attempted murder on the vessel!" Two masked ones suddenly appeared next to him, and grabbed the baby. "Crow, go back to wolf, we will take care of this!"

 **XXXXXFLASHBACK ENDS(still a bitch)XXXXX**

"Sarutobi, you know very well I value this village as much as you do! Why in the world would i want the villagers to kill such a strong weapon!" Argued Danzö, in turn, the killing intent as resided and The Hokage stared at him in understanding. "It is most likely one of your anbu's or your jounin, even the possibility of it being the clan leaders."

The Hokage kept his stare as he listened to the man, as much as he felt disgusted by the use of the word weapon, he was right. Naruto, is and always will be a weapon. That's why each great villages had their own jinchuuriki, to fight:to protect; to serve.

The Hokage turned his chair to face away from his visitor, "Leave, the baby will not become a shadow… He is too important for the job." Danzö knew the hidden message, the baby was the son of a Hokage, a jinchuuriki. Such things can be used to the villages advantage, a marriage proposal to form a treaty? A way to attract customers to sending their missions to Konoha because of a strong shinobi? Danzö admitted defeat as he bowed and left the room, he can see the positive in keeping the child at full view.

An hour had passed since his confrontation with Danzö. The the Hokage stood up, It was time. Clicking his fingers, two Anbu's appeared by his side. "Accompany me to HQ."

 **-ANBU HQ-**

The Anbu HQ is situated underground, hundreds of meters below the surface. This is where S to SSS rank missions are taken, this is where Elite of Konoha is situated. Anbu's are known to be the one of the strongest shinobi's in Konoha. The force is split into three divisions, hunter-nin, infiltration and BOOM.

Hunter-nins are the one who tracks missing-nins or any shinobi's that is a threat to village security and is listed in the bingo books. They are trained in human anatomy, knowing what each muscle do to the body and where to aim for an instant kill.

Infiltration division are trained in ultimate stealth. They are trained to undergo days without food or water if they are to survive behind enemy lines. Like Hunter-nins, they are also trained in human anatomy in enthralling detail.

Lastly is the BOOM division, a group consisting of only three Anbu's. Three Anbu's that could take on a Kage and have a possibility of winning. Two of the Anbu's are the commanders of their respective division. They are chosen due to their strength and capability. BOOM's third, last member and leader is the Anbu Commander. the Anbu Commander is known to be the second strongest shinobi of Konoha, behind the Hokage. This division is led by the Hokage himself, and BOOM will only surface when war is brewing.

Only Infiltration and Hunter-nins have their own training areas, both division has acres and acres of lands to train in. However, BOOM doesn't require training areas, training areas requires BOOM.

In the Anbu commander's office, three people were present, well 3 ⅓. Hiruzen Sarutobi, Anbu commander and Hunter-nin's commander who is currently facing away from the two as she sat on the corner, breastfeeding the baby. The room was spacious but simple. The desk was situated near the wall, a cupboard behind the commanders chair and only three seats altogether.

The hokage stared at the masked man, he has just promoted the man to Anbu Commander. However, before the previous commander died, he was highly recommended to take over.

"Zô, you may already know why i've come here."

Zô nodded as both men stared at the back of the only woman in the room or specifically the baby she was holding. Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, son of the Yondaime Hokage and Kushina Uzumaki, the second jinchuuriki. The most valuable asset of Konoha and thus, must be protected.

"I want the baby protected Zô, you may have heard what happened a few days back. The outside world is not safe for him and thus I am leaving him in here. You must train him until the day I come for him. Any questions?"

Zô didn't need to be told that it was an order, Hokages words are absolute. However, one question did play in his mind.

"The mask will mould according to his face, but which masked would he wear Hokage-sama?"

The Hokage smiled, let us see how good you can be. Standing up, he walked behind the commander and opened the cupboard. The contents varied from retired masks to vintage weaponry. He took three equipments from the cupboard and laid them down in front of the commander. One was a weird looking kunai, tri-pronged kunai with a larger handle which had encrypted seals on it.

"These two masks, i want them reforging. Half them and combine the two halves together. Now i'm sure you know why i chose the third one."

The Hokage did not wait for the reply, he turned around and walked towards the exit. Two Anbu's appeared beside him the moment he had closed the door. 'Naruto my boy, this is the best i could do. Make me proud.'

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 **P.S**

 **Naruto canon's personality was one of the let downs in the canon. I was never a fan of his character, so please, if you expect a happy go lucky kid… Then do not read any further!**

 **Till the next chapter!**


	2. What does the hokage want?

The second chapter is here! Wooop wooop!

Enjoy my lovelies!

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **11 YEARS LATER**

Six figures were jumping from tree to tree at an alarming rate.

"Taichou! Seems like we have been spotted."

"Copy that! Zero get on it!"

A man of small stature stopped in his tracks, this was zero. The other five stopped after a few feet and hid behind the shadows, watching the lone figure in the clearing. A moment after, six figures appeared in front of their team mate.

"Taichou, are you sure that kid can handle that?!" A female voice filled their transmitters, shock apparent in her tone. All she heard was chuckling, what does she not know!? The captain threw a bingo book in her way. "Read that, actually no. Just watch and then read it, you don't want to miss this show."

Zero looked on, as his opponents eyed him, readying themselves for combat.

"Konoha nin, why are you in iwa territory?" Zero crack his joints.

"I repeat again! Why are you in iwa territory!?" Zero cracked more finger joints.

"You are now in custody of Iwa, surrender and you will receive a fair sentence. If not, then die." The Iwa nin's tensed, the man in front of them lifted his arm, finger pointed towards them like a pistol. His wrist flicked upwards, like how it would when a gun recoils.

They laughed beside one, as he fell back. Dead. Thump. All eyes were directed at the lifeless body on the ground, a hole on his forehead. They had no time to react as Zero appeared between them, kunai already lodged on the back of two of their teammates.

Thump.

Two bodies fell lifeless in a matter of seconds, three was left. Zero stood up straight, both arms outstretched by his side's, pointed at his enemies. Screams were heard as their body convulsed, eyes rolling back to their heads.

Thump.

The lone iwa nin stared at the kid in front of him, recollecting his thoughts, he slammed both palms against the ground. " **Doton Doryuusou!"**

Spikes rose from the ground, narrowly avoiding the mud spikes, Zero created space between the two. " **Fuuton kazekari no jutsu!"** Zero waved his arm in a slashing motion, air released from his fingertips.

The fuuton jutsu cut the tips off the mud spikes and raced towards the iwa nin. With no time to react, the iwa nin catapulted himself to a branch. Zero outstretched his arm again, the sudden scrambling in his ears distracted him causing his jutsu to miss.

" _Zero, it's time to go! Iwa nins would have felt the chakra spikes!"_

The voice was from their captain, his orders were absolute. Relieving from his stance, he turned his back at the iwa nin and made his way towards his comrades.

"Wait! Who are you?" The the call went unheeded as the man that defeated his squad disappeared in the shadows, leaving him with 5 dead bodies.

 **XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX**

"Holy shit! Zero is an A rank ninja!?" She couldn't believe it! The kid, way younger than her, was as strong or even stronger that she was.

The kid for his part did not react to her blatant shock of the the information, continuing jumping from branch to branch. The ranking was nothing to him, he was there to serve his higher ups.

"So that's why they call you trigger, that attack you did… What was that?"

…..

The captain shook his head, the kid was in his own world again, probably think of ways to improve his justsu's. Deciding to be welcoming to the new recruit, he answered her question. "That is wind manipulation, he coats the tip of his pointing finger with very condensed wind. However-"

"But… to form such a thing requires great-"

"Chakra control, yes. However, what i would like to know is what happened to the other two?"

Regaining his thoughts, he could hear the mutterings in his ear piece. They were talking about him, or more specifically, his jutsu. "I used Raiton, channeling electricity to the tip of my fingers. It's like a defibrillator, but it would fry your brains out if released in the correct spot."

The captain nodded in approval, to be Anbu, you must have full control over two nature affinities and last but not least full knowledge of human anatomy. That is why Anbu's are deadly killers, silent killing is their job and that requires instant death.

However, not everyone approved of his skills, the woman shook her head in disbelief. ' _What are you?'_

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Naruto sat by the entrance to the training area within Anbu Headquarters. It has become a common occurrence for Anbu's to see him there, watching, learning and even joining their training. Everybody knew the masked clad kid of Anbu, how couldn't they? Personally trained by the two commanders of the divisions and if he wasn't busy, the Anbu Commander himself. Three of some of the strongest shinobi's in Konoha training a little kid, who the fuck is he?

He adorned a rather obscure masked, it was half dog, half cat. On one cheek he had a whisker like mark and on the other was a red swirl a flame-esque style. The blonde now stood at 5'7, a tall height for his age. His hair has grown longer, bangs now framing his masked at both sides.

In front of him, a new batch of Anbu's that has been hand picked by the Hokage and the Anbu Commander. However, this doesn't mean they are accepted, there was an initiation test. The initiation test was no easy feat. It was specifically created to weed out the weak and separate them from the strong.

He felt a hand ruffling his hair, disapprovement of the action plastered all over his face. He doesn't understand the need for such a thing when a simple hello would have sufficed as a greeting.

Looking up he saw a purple haired Anbu, she wore the official kit that has been given to them bar the katana sheathed behind her back. The said woman belonged in the Hunter-nin division, this can be seen through her grey hitate.

Divisions are distinguishable by their hitate, Black is infiltration and Grey is for the hunter-nin division. She plopped herself beside him causing the blonde to shuffle aside. This scene was also a common occurrence in Anbu, it was widely known that the older shinobi had taken an interest in the youngling.

"What can I help you with Cat-san? And may i remind you again, a hello would be suffice." Naruto spoke with an emotionless tone, she's persistent and her persistence will only take her so far.

The older of the two shook her head, it was the same response as always. "You know, you need to relax from time to time. When i see you, you're either training, watching people train or reading about jutsu's in the library! That is not normal for your age!" Her voice was angry but caring, like how a mother would speak to her child.

The blonde thought about her words, again, he was questioning her. Why would you do such a thing when you have not reached your goal? A goal of Anbu is to protect and serve the Hokage. To protect you must be strong, to serve you must be obedient. Training to protect, reading to serve. "Age does not affect ones lifestyle choice. Relaxing is only an option when a mission has been reached." There was no stutter in his voice, as if he was programmed to think like that. It was like he never had a childhood, it was exactly like that.

This saddened the woman, how can it not? A kid not even a month old drafted to Anbu, where was the morals in that! No one knew who he was with the exceptions of the Anbu Commander Zö and the Hokage himself. Word had spread that day of the child of Anbu, new ones learn from the old of the kid who was born in Anbu.

She was losing her calm, she was getting nowhere with the kid. The said kid had the thought process of a grown man. Before she could utter another word, a tri-pronged kunai embedded against the wood next to her head in which the head of her companion should have been. The said blonde didn't even flinch, he just leaned his head to one side to dodge the incoming kunai. The shock in her eyes says it all, only a veteran would have been able to calmly dodge that kunai, others would have parried it. This impressed the woman greatly, such calmness, such fluidity in his movements. 'He made that look too easy for his own age.'

Grabbing the kunai off the wall, Naruto stood up and stared directly ahead. "I must take my leave Cat-san." The Anbu commander stood in the middle of the training ground looking at him. Without warning, he shot off towards his mentor, leaving the purple haired anbu angry.

In no time Naruto was beside the Anbu commander who has been overseeing the initiation test, few had already left. The new blood, looked at him in amazement. Whispering started and Naruto was the main topic, or specifically, his age. He was used to the shock looks he got, even better when they find out, i have been here all my life. His thoughts was broken down by the Anbu Commander's booming voice.

"Shut the HELL UP! FOCUS!" Turning away from the group, he focused on Naruto. "Spar with me, just taijutsu."

Naruto nodded, he liked sparring with the commander. It's his way of training him, practicality is where he excels and the commander knew that. Taking a few steps back, he readied into his stance.

Both shinobis nodded, both simultaneously disappearing in a blur creating a dust cloud in their wake. They met in between, a flurry of punches was thrown until Naruto outstretched too far. "Never lunge!" Zô, grabbed onto his wrist, twisted his upper body and threw Naruto away. Naruto not being easily done, stood up and began his assault. This time, using his legs, he sent a kick toward his mentor only for it to be blocked by the man's shin. Sending another punch which was again blocked, Zô shook his head. "Your stance is loose!"

Dropping to the ground, Zô hooked Naruto's standing leg. As he was falling, Zo placed his hands against Naruto's throat, choke slamming him to the ground. The dust cloud cleared and revealed a rock in place of Naruto. "Neh, didn't i say just taijutsu?" Zô turned around to face Naruto who was a few feet away.

Naruto took out a few kunais and launched them at the commander with accuracy. "You also said, there are no set of rules in real life combat." The commander dodged the projectiles with ease.

Using the kunai's as a distraction, he appeared behind his commander. kunai in hand, he slashed the commander only for it to be parried.

"Too predictable and the slash was too wide, keep it tight!" The commander twisted his wrist to disarm naruto and sent him flying with a kick to the chest.

Landing smoothly, naruto went through a couple of hand signs. " **Kage Bunshin no jutsu**." Three copies of Naruto appeared beside him, in unison, they circled the commander like a vulture stalking its prey. Each second, their speed increased, fast enough to provide a screen of dust clouds.

Zo looked on with approval, 'disturbing my view using dust clouds, i approve!' His thoughts trailed as an incoming kunai whizzed passed the dust cloud, kunai in hand, the commander easily parried the projectile. A second later three kunais entered his view, having no choice, he ducked to prevent his head being sliced off. As he ducked, a shadow loomed over him, a smile graced his lips. 'Gotcha!'

Looking up, he was taken back. The Naruto he saw did not have a weapon, he didn't have his arm ready to punch him. Realisation dawned on, 'Shit! I need to get out of this dust cloud barrier. Fast!' As he jumped out, he collided with one of the clones which in turn wrapped all four limbs around him. 'Oh shit!'

BOOM

The sound of the explosion resonated across the training fields, Anbu's alike stared at the blast in which created a tall dust cloud. The dust settled and there they saw the Anbu Commander, standing with his white cape slightly burned and one of its sleeve blown off.

Before he could dust himself off, Naruto was sending a barrage of punches. Due to his disoriented state, some punches landed against his lower abdomen. Jumping back to provide distance, he threw a well precisioned kunai to prevent Naruto from getting any closer. The kunai hit the mark as it caught naruto's sleeve and in turn caught a bit of flesh in his arm. Blood trickled down from the wound, it wasn't deep enough to stop the spar but it was enough to stop his onslaught.

"Ninjutsu."

Naruto heard the shout and nodded. Unbeknown to the two, they have attracted the attention of the new blood of Anbu. Their instructors shook their heads as they looked at each other, this was another spar that they all knew would end badly for the kid.

"5000 yen, the kid doesn't last another minute?" Shouted a black haired, boar masked Anbu. A number of his comrades laughed, they knew too well nobody will bet against that.

They thought wrong, a female voice interrupted their laughter, "10,000 Yen, my baby draws blood from the commander before he eventually loses?"

Boar laughed, "Make it 50,000 and it is a deal!" Both Anbu's shook hands, their comrades acting as their witness. The woman had brown long hair tied in a bun and wore a bird masked. She is the Commander of the Hunter-nin division, the same woman that fed Naruto when he was a baby.

Said Naruto appeared to be going through a number of handsigns as wind picked up in the area. " **Fuuton kaiten shuriken!"** wind like shuriken formed on his hand, spinning wildly, Naruto threw the jutsu.

The wind jutsu raced towards Zö, shaking his head, he easily dodged the jutsu. "If you're gonna throw that, channel chakra to behind it! It would reach me faster." Zö smiled as placed his fingers by his mouth, a fireball appeared and projected towards Naruto at speed.

" **Doryuu Heki!"** Slamming the ground again, a mud wall erupted in front of Naruto, ultimately blocking the ball of fire. He panted, a jutsu you do not have high affinity to will take a lot from its user. But, he always seemed to have endless chakra. Steadying himself, he created Kage bunshins. Naruto left the cover of the wall and scouted for the commander.

Spotting the blonde, he threw a number of kunais to stall the kid. He witness the blonde dodging a couple and parrying the rest. Said blonde stopped at his tracks and faced him. "You know you should just give up, you won't win."

Naruto dismissed the idea as he took out a kunai and charged at his opponent. Twisting and turning to dodge another round of incoming projectiles, he found himself face to face with the commander with his fist cocked back.

The commander swore he saw the first smile on the lad. Shaking the thoughts away, he was prevented on taking a closer step towards Naruto due to a pair of arms grabbing on to his legs. Before he could do anything the Naruto in front him shook his head.

"BOOM!"

'Naruto' exploded, sending 'Zö' flying across the yard, landed on his back and disappearing in a puff of smoke. The real Naruto erupted from the ground and surveyed the area, nowhere. His sensei was nowhere to be senses told him to duck, so he did. A katana was hair lengths away from decapitating him. Equipping himself with his last pair of kunai's, he rushed at his mentor.

Sparks flew as metal collided with each swing they both took. Naruto was slowly crumbling, going against an anbu commander was no easy feat. Both separated one was panting heavily, the other stood straight, unwavered.

Naruto's gazed moved towards his tri-pronged kunai. Shaking his head he readied himself, throwing tri-pronged kunai as a diversion. He was about to rush until he felt that pull. The feeling of being tugged, something was trying to pull him. Naruto closed his eyes, focusing on the alien feeling.

The commander merely leaned his head to avoid the projectile. Katana in hand, he set himself knowing naruto would rush him. He stared at the blonde, waiting and shocked couldn't begin to describe what he saw.

The same emotion was currently shown by the audience they have accumulated. Shocked apparent in their eyes, the Hokage who had been watching in the balcony shared their thoughts. 'Could it be?'

Naruto disappeared, literally. A flash of yellow behind the commander and naruto appeared, tri-pronged kunai in both hands. However, the blonde swayed, feet tapping about like a drunk trying to balance himself.

His head felt it was about to be ripped in pieces and body seemed like it had been sliced like a cake. Dizziness, and sickness was overcoming him. Dropping to the floor, he vomited as he used one hand to clutch his head. Blue eyes rolled back as he dropped to the floor next to his sick.

 **Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"What can i help you with Hokage-sama?" Zö sat on his chair, Hokage in front of him, he felt something nostalgic about the situation. The Hokage laid his hat on the desk in front of him and smiled.

"Naruto, i need him out of Anbu… He will be joining the academy."


End file.
